Six migrant workers from Assam died after they fell into a 150-feet pit of a forest in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills on Friday.

Locals alleged the migrant workers whose bodies were found inside the pit today morning were digging an illegal coal mine.

However, government sources said there is no coal mine in the area and the workers were involved in cutting and shaping hard soil for other purposes, NDTV reported.

It may be stated that the incident took place in the same district where 15 men disappeared inside an illegal rat-hole mine after it collapsed in December 2018.

Meghalaya has an estimated 5,000 illegal rat-hole mines, mostly in East Jaintia hills. After coal mining was banned in 2014, there was a slowdown in economic activities by 70 per cent.